Prosecutors filed murder and other charges this week against an Ontario man accused of stabbing his girlfriend’s brother to death with a foot-long Asian ornamental knife over the weekend in Rowland Heights.
Albert Camacho appeared in Pomona Superior Court Tuesday, where he was charged with the murder of 32-year-old Benjamin Cervantes, who died shortly after Saturday’s 1:30 a.m. stabbing at his home in the 1300 block of Gloriosa Avenue in Rowland Heights, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s and superior court officials.
Camacho was also charged with four counts of dissuading a witness for threatening witnesses to the stabbing in an attempt to prevent them from calling authorities, Lt. Mike Rosson of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau said.
He entered no plea, and his arraignment was continued to Sept. 12, Los Angeles County district attorney’s officials said.
Rosson said Camacho and Cervantes had argued in the past prior to the fatal stabbing.
“They didn’t get along,” the lieutenant said.
He did not know the specific issue the men were disputing early Saturday when the argument escalated into a fight, and Camacho grabbed a 12-inch-long ornamental Asian knife that was already at the home. Cervantes was stabbed several times in the upper body.
Camacho fled the scene following the stabbing, but only after threatening to harm neighbors who witnessed the stabbing if they called authorities, Rosson said.
He remained at-large for more than 10 hours before ultimately turning himself in at the sheriff’s Walnut-Diamond Bar Station shortly after noon, according to officials and county booking records. He had received word from family members that he was being sought by homicide detectives.
Detectives recovered the knife believed to have been used in the stabbing, though Rosson declined to say exactly when and where it was found.
Camacho was being held without bail pending his next court appearance, records show.